The present invention relates to medical imaging. In particular, a system and method of scan conversion is provided.
In medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging, a patient is scanned in a linear, sector, or Vector® format. In response to the scan, ultrasound data is acquired in a polar coordinate format. The ultrasound data is used to generate an image on a display. The display format has a Cartesian coordinate format. The ultrasound data is converted from polar or Cartesian acoustic coordinate to the Cartesian display coordinate format. The ultrasound data is also converted from intensity or estimate information into red, green, blue or other video signal for display.
The display values resulting from scan conversion are output to a raster buffer. Display values for an entire image are stored in the buffer before reading out to the display. Graphics information, such as text and borders, are added to the data in the buffer. The graphics information or overlay is provided from a different video source.
Storage in the buffer introduces a time delay between scanning and display. The time delay may be reduced by providing two buffers. Display values for one image are read into one buffer while display values for a different image are read out of the other buffer. The buffers are used in a ping-pong fashion between reading in and reading out display values. However, there is still latency introduced by reading in or out all the display values for an image. The single or double buffer also uses space, increases cost, and increases power usage.